Video cassettes and video cassette recorders are continuing to gain popularity and are fast becoming a commonplace household item. Today, as a result of such popularity a strong market demand has been created and video cassettes may now be purchased and/or leased by consumers at a variety of stores and outlets, sales of cassettes no longer being limited to the traditional "video" store. In many sales and rental locations the video cassettes are handled and displayed along with a multitude of other items, and at time the cassettes are subjected to severe handling by both store personnel and prospective buyers. to protect the video cassettes from rough handling, a variety of storage containers have been developed. This invention pertains to a new and useful storage container for a video cassette.
Video cassettes are produced by various manufacturers and are generally available in two different sizes, VHS size and the smaller, more compact Beta size. Some prior storage containers are manufactured in two distinct sizes to separately accomodate either VHS or Beta cassettes. Recently, however, universal storage containers have been made available. Such universal containers are capable of accomodating both VHS and Beta cassettes. Some examples of universal storage containers are disclosed in the following U. S. Patents: Basili U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,481; Hehn U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,594; and Basili, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,291, 801.
Some of the considerations applicant feels are important in the design of a universal container include the need to quickly and easily guide and align cassettes (both VHS and Beta) into position within the container. Also, applicant feels it is important to minimize movement of the cassette within the enclosure, and also to minimize movement of the reels relative to the cassette itself. The reels are normally supported on reel hubs that have some degree of play (movement) relative to the cassette. In use, the container may be subjected to rough handling, and the ability to minimize movement of the cassette and the reels helps to minimize damage to those elements during handling. Thus, the need to retain the cassette in the container, and also to retain the reel hubs against movement is significant. Furthermore, applicant feels it is important to provide sufficient means to ensure that the container will remain closed and the cassette held firmly therein during handling.